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Fox Chase Cancer Center's Monica Morrow Elected to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

PHILADELPHIA (November 21, 2005) -- Monica Morrow, MD, chairman of the Department of Surgical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center was elected fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow earlier this month. Morrow, who holds the Center's G. Willing "Wing" Pepper Chair in Cancer Research at Fox Chase, was praised for her influence in the field of breast cancer surgery.

"Morrow has made a huge contribution world wide to developing standards of care for women with breast cancer," read the College's citation conferring the fellowship on Morrow. She "...is best known for the clarity of her writing and her inspirational speaking.... Through her writing and speaking she has increased our understanding in many areas but particularly in the management of early breast cancer, sentinel node biopsy and the management of DCIS. Professor Morrow's influence in her filed cannot be underestimated."

Throughout the 1990s, Morrow was active in the development of national and international standards of care for breast cancer, serving on committees for the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology among others. In 2000, Morrow co-chaired the joint committees of the American College of Surgeons, American College of Radiology and College of American Pathologists on standards for breast conservation in invasive carcinoma and on standards for breast conservation in ductal carcinoma in situ.

Morrow joined Fox Chase's division of medical science as chairman of surgical oncology at Fox Chase in August of 2004, becoming one of just a few women across the nation to chair a surgery department.

Until her Fox Chase appointment, Morrow served as professor of surgery at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital's clinical breast programs, including the Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center.

She received an inaugural Department of Defense Center of Excellence grant in 1996-one of only three breast cancer center grants the DOD awarded nationally-to focus on increasing access to modern multidisciplinary breast cancer care. In addition, Morrow was Northwestern's co-principal investigator for a National Cancer Institute-funded Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Morrow was the first surgeon to serve on the National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine, from 1999 to 2002. She is the surgical editor of the standard textbook for professionals, Diseases of the Breast, as well as an author of a book in the popular "Dummies" series called Breast Cancer for Dummies.

From 1999 to 2001, she was director of the cancer department of the American College of Surgeons and executive director of the American Joint Committee on Cancer. She has served on the board of directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and currently is a member of the executive council of the Society of Surgical Oncology.

Morrow graduated from Pennsylvania State University and Jefferson Medical College in 1976. She has received two of Penn State's most prestigious awards, having been named an Alumni Fellow of the Eberly College of Science and a Distinguished Alumnus of the University. She was commencement speaker for the College of Science in 2003.

Morrow served her residency in surgery at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont in Burlington. After completing a two-year fellowship in surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1983, she became assistant professor of surgery at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and also directed the surgical oncology service at Kings County Hospital Medical Center there. In 1988, she moved to the University of Chicago as director of the multidisciplinary breast cancer team and associate professor of surgery until joining the Northwestern faculty in 1993.

Fox Chase Cancer Center, part of the Temple University Health System, is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence four consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. For more information, call 1-888-FOX CHASE or (1-888-369-2427).

Disclaimer: Temple University Health System (TUHS) neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents. Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System and by Temple University School of Medicine.